Area Development
The University of Tennessee (UT) has announced plans to build a $40 million "grassoline" facility to create ethanol from switchgrass and other plants. The demonstration-scale facility will be built in partnership with cellulosic biofuels pioneer Mascoma Corp. in the Niles Ferry Industrial Park, Monroe County. The biorefinery, which should be operational by 2009, will be about one-tenth the size of a commercial production facility. It will allow researchers to create a system that can be expanded to larger plants across the state in the future.